Containers are commonly used in storage and transportation of viscous liquids, such as tomato paste and other food products. These containers are often palletized and have rigid walls and a lid which support a bag filled with the fluid to be contained. Commonly, these containers are collapsible when empty so that they require less space for storage and transport. The container must be strong enough to survive the rigors of transportation and yet be easily stackable to maximize warehouse space. Standard sizes of forklifts, highway freight trailers, railroad cars, and other shipping containers have resulted in the proliferation of containers which have a footprint similar to that of a standard 44-inch by 48-inch pallet and having a height of approximately 37 inches. Containers which deviate significantly from these dimensions are less economical in that they do not fit as easily onto various transportation systems and are not as easily manipulated by commonly available handling means, such as forklifts.
Containers of this size hold approximately 300 gallons of fluid. While this size can be easily handled by many industrial customers, a significant portion of the industrial customers can not handle such large quantities of fluids in their facilities. Many users of tomato paste, for example, prefer to receive paste in 55-gallon increments such as are commonly contained in 55-gallon drums. Drums are inherently less efficient in storage and transportation than are the palletized 300-gallon containers.
Drums leave excess space when placed within a warehouse or on a transportation device. Furthermore, drums are not collapsible as are the 300-gallon containers. Accordingly, a need exists for providing the convenience and cost effectiveness of a container similar to the collapsible 300-gallon type, which contains the fluid in discrete 55-gallon increments as is required by many industrial customers. The invention of this application meets this need by providing a collapsible container having exterior dimensions substantially similar to those of 300-gallon containers but which is subdivided into four separate 55-gallon regions, each region receiving a 55-gallon bag of fluid therein.
The following prior art reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that none of these references teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.
______________________________________ INVENTOR U.S. Pat. No. ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ Frye, De Moine H. 2,534,010 December 12, 1950 Frye, De Moine H. 2,534,011 December 12, 1950 Hamerslag, J. P. Jr. 2,683,010 July 6, 1954 Lapham, S. D. 2,700,521 January 25, 1955 Marques, et al. 4,054,223 October 18, 1977 Fell, et al. 4,221,296 September 9, 1980 Preston, et al 4,426,015 January 17, 1984 Yokowo, K. 4,454,946 June 19, 1984 Croley, T. 4,516,692 May 14, 1985 Schneider, W. 4,697,699 October 6, 1987 Koenig, D. 4,763,787 August 16, 1988 Graves, et al. 4,786,192 November 22, 1988 Nederveld 4,949,898 August 21, 1990 Selz 5,036,979 August 6, 1991 ______________________________________
The brochure presented by Beatrice/Hunt-Wesson (undated) for the bag-in-bin container teaches the use of a collapsible palletized container which receives a bag filled with fluid (such as tomato paste) on an interior thereof. The instant invention is both structurally distinguishable from this reference and further provides dividers on an interior thereof which segregate the interior into four separate regions, with each region receiving a separate bag of fluid.
Many of the listed prior art, of which the patent to Preston, et al. is an example, teach a container which may be palletized, is collapsible and receives a bag filled with fluid therein. The application of this invention is distinguishable structurally from devices of this type and also in that, inter alia, it divides the interior of the container into four separate regions and provides a separate bag filled with fluid for each region.
Another group of prior art, of which the patent to Yokowo is an example, teach the use of collapsible containers which are subdivided into separate regions and which are palletized. The device of this invention is distinguishable from the teachings of these patents in that, inter alia, the dividing walls within the container of this invention are securely fastened to sidewalls of the container. This insures that, if one region within the container is empty and an adjacent region within the container is full, the container will maintain its integrity and be able to restrain the fluid within the bag from displacing the dividers within the containers. Furthermore, none of these references contemplate storage of liquid filled bags therein.
Those prior art citations which do not fit into either of these categories, diverge even more starkly from the instant invention than do those inventions fitting into the groups specifically distinguished above.